This is getting ugly - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Coach McGuirk · 03-04-2008, 01:56 PM

http://beta.velonews.com/article/730...eams-caught-in

Race in Paris-Nice get 6 month ban by UCI

Don't race in Paris-Nice you won't be allowed to compete in ASO sponsored races, including TDF.

It is not just drugs killing this sport.

RC Vikings · 03-05-2008, 12:45 PM

I hope they get it figured out before it all dies.

creekster · 03-05-2008, 05:28 PM

Some of us followed the sport closely when Lance was still trying to be a teen age mutant triathlete in Texas. It was difficult because if you couldn't afford a subscription to some fancy pants European bike magazine, you were very limited in your sources of information. We also pegged Lance as the next big thing in American cycling before he had cancer. He was not a likely grand tour winner, but he was a classics guy, and won a world championship to prove it.

Then LA got cancer and it all changed.

SUddenly people that didn't know a quick release from a tri-cycle followed Lance. He came back with a changed body and a new outlook and a feel good story. He was going to The Tour again! Then when he not only rode the tour d F but won it, kicking some french butt along the way, it was too good to be true! Trek gave him bikes and made a lot of money. Bruyneel became a genius. The Posties became a household name. Phil AND Paul put away their suitcase full of pain and pulled out a briefcase full of cash and celebrity. And he just kept winning the thing. Everybody loved LA and cycling saw a renaissance in the country unlike anything since the turn of the last century (for something really amazing, check out how many spectators used to attend multi day track races in early 1900s).

For those of us that had labored to keep up with the sport in the past, this was hard to believe, here was the tour on every channel, on ESPN, in real time on cable, in English, and in every newspaper everyday! Encroyable! But could it last?

The drug issues have been a problem. Most of the bike world, and especially the french, look at Lance the way most Americans look at bonds; they think he is lying, they think he cheated, but they loved to watch him ride the bike, even though they won't admit it. I laughed the other day listening to some yahoo on the radio talk about how baseball has the strictest drug testing policy in professional sports. Nope, not even close. Track is much stricter and cycling is the strictest of all. Rasmussen was suspended not for testing positive, but for lying about his whereabouts when he was subject to unannounced random out of competition tests. Even so, when Landis was caught/accused, many Americans chalked it up to a corrupt international regime out to get Americans. Many following the sport aren't so sure. It looks pretty bad for Landis, to tell you the truth. So due to suspicions of Landis and Lance, the sport's popularity has ebbed.

Will it disappear? Hard to say. The tour of Calif. was well attended again this year. Many americans are still prominent in the sport in europe. OLN or Vs. or whatever it is this year will broadcast the tour again. But if ASO and UCI and everybody else can't get their crap together, and if Astana does not get into the Tour this year,it will be a big problem.

I will still care, and will still follow the sport and thanks to the internet I will eb able to do it pretty well. Folks like Adam will drop away, sadly, however, and so the sport will not be as popular as it once was, for one brief shining moment. Nonetheless, the sport will survive and continue, maybe just not so much here stateside. It is sad indeed.

Oh well. I guess I will wait for the musical.

03-04-2008, 01:56 PM	#1
Coach McGuirk Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: The Bubble Posts: 606	This is getting ugly http://beta.velonews.com/article/730...eams-caught-in Race in Paris-Nice get 6 month ban by UCI Don't race in Paris-Nice you won't be allowed to compete in ASO sponsored races, including TDF. It is not just drugs killing this sport. __________________ "Hey! It's all ball bearings nowadays. Now you prepare that Fetzer valve with some 3-in-1 oil and some gauze pads. And I'm gonna need 'bout ten quarts of anti-freeze, preferably Prestone. No, no make that Quaker State. "

03-05-2008, 12:45 PM	#2
RC Vikings Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Rexburg, Idaho Posts: 2,236	I hope they get it figured out before it all dies. __________________ "I always rode to my limit. If I won by three minutes, that's because I couldn't make four." Eddy Merckx

03-05-2008, 05:28 PM	#3
creekster Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: the far corner of my mind Posts: 8,711	Some of us followed the sport closely when Lance was still trying to be a teen age mutant triathlete in Texas. It was difficult because if you couldn't afford a subscription to some fancy pants European bike magazine, you were very limited in your sources of information. We also pegged Lance as the next big thing in American cycling before he had cancer. He was not a likely grand tour winner, but he was a classics guy, and won a world championship to prove it. Then LA got cancer and it all changed. SUddenly people that didn't know a quick release from a tri-cycle followed Lance. He came back with a changed body and a new outlook and a feel good story. He was going to The Tour again! Then when he not only rode the tour d F but won it, kicking some french butt along the way, it was too good to be true! Trek gave him bikes and made a lot of money. Bruyneel became a genius. The Posties became a household name. Phil AND Paul put away their suitcase full of pain and pulled out a briefcase full of cash and celebrity. And he just kept winning the thing. Everybody loved LA and cycling saw a renaissance in the country unlike anything since the turn of the last century (for something really amazing, check out how many spectators used to attend multi day track races in early 1900s). For those of us that had labored to keep up with the sport in the past, this was hard to believe, here was the tour on every channel, on ESPN, in real time on cable, in English, and in every newspaper everyday! Encroyable! But could it last? The drug issues have been a problem. Most of the bike world, and especially the french, look at Lance the way most Americans look at bonds; they think he is lying, they think he cheated, but they loved to watch him ride the bike, even though they won't admit it. I laughed the other day listening to some yahoo on the radio talk about how baseball has the strictest drug testing policy in professional sports. Nope, not even close. Track is much stricter and cycling is the strictest of all. Rasmussen was suspended not for testing positive, but for lying about his whereabouts when he was subject to unannounced random out of competition tests. Even so, when Landis was caught/accused, many Americans chalked it up to a corrupt international regime out to get Americans. Many following the sport aren't so sure. It looks pretty bad for Landis, to tell you the truth. So due to suspicions of Landis and Lance, the sport's popularity has ebbed. Will it disappear? Hard to say. The tour of Calif. was well attended again this year. Many americans are still prominent in the sport in europe. OLN or Vs. or whatever it is this year will broadcast the tour again. But if ASO and UCI and everybody else can't get their crap together, and if Astana does not get into the Tour this year,it will be a big problem. I will still care, and will still follow the sport and thanks to the internet I will eb able to do it pretty well. Folks like Adam will drop away, sadly, however, and so the sport will not be as popular as it once was, for one brief shining moment. Nonetheless, the sport will survive and continue, maybe just not so much here stateside. It is sad indeed. Oh well. I guess I will wait for the musical. __________________ Sorry for th e tpyos.